This specification generally relates to cloud computing techniques.
In cloud computing, a set of shared computing resources, storage resources, and network resources can be provisioned to users, generally in the form of virtual machines. Multiple physical computing appliances, e.g., computers in a server farm, can provide a service platform for provisioning these resources. The service platform is sometimes referred to as infrastructure as a service (IaaS). An example of a cloud computing platform is a Pivotal Cloud Foundry® software product deployed on a set of cloud appliances. Applications executing on a cloud computing platform can consume one or more services. A service can include hardware and software that the applications use over a network as part of the executions. For example, a service can include a database, e.g., MySQL™ or a messaging service, e.g., RabbitMQ®. During execution, the applications may need to discover, connect to, and load-balance various services. An application can consume a particular service if, at deployment time, the application is bound to that service. An application can use multiple services. A service can be used by multiple applications.